Ospreyblaze's Dreams
by Crow Dance
Summary: He wasn't well liked, nor was he particularly special. There was only one cat who looked out for him, and taught him almost everything. One piece of advice always stayed with him: "They'll only ever have one life. But if you learn to dream, you can have as many as you like."
1. Could Have Been Worse

_He walked silently through the camp, his paws making no sound in the sand of the riverbank. Without a word, the dark grey tom sat down, his blue eyes moving to the river. Glowing serpents swan through it in the darkness, a sight which surprised him – but still he made no sound. When one of the serpents finally raised its glittering head and met his eyes with an ebony gaze, he leaped for its throat. But the serpent was faster, and the warrior fell into the river with a deafening crash, the snake's teeth in his pelt._

Ospreykit sat silently inside the nursery. He had no idea why he had woken up – he had just woken up suddenly. No nightmare, no blinking. Just asleep and then awake – like that. Thunder roared outside the warm den, a sight which hardly displeased him. The other kits might get restless, cooped up in the nursery, but he could slip out easily – nobody watched him.

The dark brown tom's ears swiveled suddenly, and he whipped around as Brackenkit made a leap for him. Ospreykit ducked just in time, and the ginger tabby sailed over his back, tail brushing Ospreykit's face, and landed in the mud. "You cheated," growled Brackenkit. "What? How?" Hissed Osprekit. "You attacked, I dodged. That's how it works." The ginger tabby rolled his eyes and padded over to their mother, Bluetail. He let out a pathetic mewl. "Ospreykit pushed me in the mud," he told Bluetail. "I – what?! No!" Ospreykit cried in defiance. Bluetail sighed and shook her head. "Ospreykit, go sit outside. Now." Ospreykit scowled back at his brother as he stalked away. Brackenkit shot him a sadistic smile.

Ospreykit had no real problem with being outside in the storm. In fact, he found it rather fascinating, and had soon sprawled out in a sheltered spot to watch the lightning arc across the pre-dawn sky.

"Hey, Ospreykit, what're you doin' here?" Ospreykit looked up to see his Uncle Eaglescar. "Oh. Hey, Eaglescar." Ospreykit stood up, shaking as much mud off as he could. His uncle leapt down and affectionately bumped Ospreykit. "So, what brings you" - Eaglescar looked around critically – "To the edge of our camp, before dawn, in a thunderstorm?" Ospreykit sneezed before he could talk. "Well, she told be to." Eaglescar sighed, which emphasised the long diagonal slash across his face. "We should get you checked out by Emberstorm. She's usually up by now." Ospreykit fell into step beside his uncle. "Okay, but why?" Eaglescar lifted up Ospreykit, as the medicine den was difficult for a kit to enter. "Well, I think you're catching something." He mumbled around his nephew.

Emberstorm was indeed up. Eaglescar set down Ospreykit, who sneezed twice before shyly padding over to Emberstorm. She sniffed him, listened to his breathing, then finally said: "This can't be good, I think it's whitecough …" Ospreykit was nervous, but he knew it could be worse. "Well, it's better dan greebcough, though, right?" Emberstorm nodded distractedly. "Yes, it could have been worse, I suppose …"


	2. Unusual Feather

_A small, light brown tabby tom leaped nimbly over a pile of rocks. He could imagine the adders within it snapping at his heels – this was going to be so exciting. The ginger she-cat ahead of him smiled. "Catch up," she chided gently. He nodded enthusiastically and bounded forward. Soon he would have his first-ever battle training. Then he would show them what a great warrior he could be! Finally they entered the training area. He squared off against his opponent, a thick-pelted black tom. "Ready?" the other apprentice asked. "You bet!" he hissed. The black tom leaped, and collided with the smaller apprentice in mid-air._

_The two tussled, neither gaining the upper hand easily for more than a few seconds. There were times when both thought they could hear something in the undergrowth. But nothing ever came out, and they just kept fighting. Until the final moment of their battle. He was pinned by his adversary, and scowling up defiantly. But then he had something else to look at. A fox. The other cats scrambled away, but he just … couldn't … right himself … in time …_

Ospreykit woke up the same way he had before. An image of a snarling fox swam behind his eyes for a second. _A fox? What's that supposed to mean? Maybe Emberstorm would know … _He looked over to the medicine cat – she was asleep, her black pelt rising and falling rhythmically. It was before dawn. A soft sigh escaped Ospreykit. He decided that the medicine cat deserved her rest, however, and didn't wake her. Also, she would claw his ears off.

Ospreykit padded to the entrance of the den, looking up at the soft colors of the pre-dawn sky. Silvery pink was beginning to show on the horizon. It looked like the Clans were in for another rainy day. ThunderClan, he imagined, would be mad about it. He grinned. WindClan would be annoyed, and maybe frightened, out on the moors with no shelter. And ShadowClan would probably be glad to have thick trees, he decided. But RiverClan? His Clan, the best Clan, would love every minute of it.

The brown-and-white tom heard something moving, then soft sounds as moss hit the floor of the den. "Come in." Commanded Emberstorm, though not unkindly. Ospreykit did as she said. "Here. Eat these." She pushed a few herbs toward him. Ospreykit wrinkled his nose. "Do I have to?" Emberstorm sighed. "Yes." Ospreykit relented and ate the herbs, trying to taste them as little as possible.

"Hey, Emberstorm …" mewed Ospreykit when he was sure he could talk again. "Yes, Ospreykit?" she mumbled distractedly, sorting through the herbs. "I think I had a weird dream last night. There was a fox and …" Emberstorm turned toward him. "… And?" she prompted. "Well, I don't really remember anything else." Ospreykit finished weakly. Emberstorm nodded, her attention on herbs once more. "Well, tell me if you remember anymore." Ospreykit nodded. "I will." He promised. "Can I go outside now?" Emberstorm sighed. "Determined, aren't you? Alright, but not for long, and you have to come back in when I say so." Ospreykit grinned. "Got it!"

He bounded out of the nursery, looking for a certain cat. Just out of curiosity, Ospreykit peered into the nursery. Bluetail lay asleep, her tail wrapped around his siblings. Next, he padded along the edge of camp and looked into the warriors' den. He recognized the dark tabby pelt of his father, then the lighter fur of Eaglescar on the opposite side. Tensing, he prepared to leap over the slumbering warriors. He soared over Lionpelt, tripped on Floodthorn's tail but didn't wake her, stumbled into Leopardheart's leg (She half woke up and growled at him), and finally made it to his uncle. "Hey! Hey! Eaglescar!" Ospreykit pawed at his uncle's face and neck. "C'mon, wake up! Come and play with me!" he whispered.

Eaglescar's eyes opened, looking at his nephew. "Alright, alright, I'm up." He drew himself into a sitting position and shook out his pelt. "Are you feeling better?" Ospreykit nodded. "Uh-huh. Can we play now?" Eaglescar half-smiled (the other half of his mouth, as always, wouldn't obey) and shepherded his nephew out of the den. "Okay, why don't we go down to the river on that side of camp" – he gestured to the boundary of the camp with the least dens nearby – "And see what washed up last night?"

Ospreykit grinned and followed his uncle. Eaglescar found a clump of feathers attached to a stick. Ospreykit pulled up a half-buried shell. Other findings were a sliver of pale wood ("Great StarClan, I almost drowned getting that one!") several smooth rocks (I swear, that one tried to kill me!") And finally, a most unusual feather. Eaglescar was digging a small den for their treasures under a rock. Ospreykit suddenly glanced at the river and saw it: dark brown with bands of white.

"Hey, look at this!" he called as he pulled it out. Eaglescar observed the feather carefully. "Hm. Well, I think it's from the wing of some kind of large bird. We should ask the warriors later." Ospreykit nodded. "Okay. Maybe I'll go get something to eat and wait till they're up." Suddenly he heard Emberstorm calling. "Ospreykit!" He raced across the camp, grabbed a fish, and skidded into the den. "Well, I guess you already got your breakfast. Eat, groom yourself regularly, take a nap and you can go out again later."


End file.
